If you haven't personally enjoyed (a relative term) the fascinating and arcane world of Yu-Gi-Oh! since its inception, there is simply no way I can adequately describe the nooks and crannies of this peculiar little creation without perhaps embarking on a doctoral level thesis. To no doubt fail at a concise summary, let's just say that the show follows the adventures of its hero, Yugi, who duels various bad guys in a game known as Duel Monsters. Chief among his nemeses are Kaiba and Marik, and in the first half of this season, Noah. In Duel Monsters all of these characters "summon" various holographic beasts (as represented on cards), all of whom have magical powers known to us mere mortals as attack and defense points. The cards can be placed in various configurations to augment either their attack or defense, none of which I have ever been able to adequately discern, but which my sons inform me are intuitively obvious to anyone younger than 12 or so. There's obviously a distinctly planned synergy between the onscreen duels, which recreate the card game, and the card game itself. No marketing fools, those crafty Yu-Gi-Oh! creators.

The third season finds Yugi and his friends captured in a virtual reality world by a mysterious boy named Noah. Our putative heroes are tasked with dueling their way out of this alternative universe against some of Kaiba's former enemies (don't ask why the enemy of my enemy is not my friend in this particular instance--suffice it to say that in the labyrinthine world of Yu-Gi-Oh! it almost makes sense). This entire third season is subtitled "Into the Shadow Realm," and that particular niche comes into play next, when Yugi's friend Joey (strangely the only character with a Brooklyn accent--again, don't ask) is sent there to duel Marik, who can control the Shadow Realm with his (wait for it) Millennium Item. What's a Millennium Item, you ask? Let's travel back to Ancient Egypt for a moment, where evidently when they weren't busy building pyramids and mummifying Pharoahs they were creating the game of Duel Monsters. The Millennium Items are various Egyptian icons that give whoever owns them even more magical magic powers. Confused yet? Ask your six year old to explain it to you.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is perfect fodder for young kids, with simple anime drawing styles and hyperbolic voice work (especially Yugi and Joey, one stentorian, the other seemingly left over from a Bowery Boys short) combined with story arcs that feature clearly drawn battle lines between good and evil. Mix with a smattering of Egyptian mythology and an omnipresent reference to the card game that requires any number of supplementary packs of monsters to be purchased separately (like I said, the marketing geniuses behind this entire outing are to be commended), and you have an all encompassing outing that transfixes most youngsters in the 5-12 age bracket. If it all seems patently absurd to us elderly folk, it at least provides 22 minutes or so at a time of relative peace and quiet as the kids enter their "shadow realm" of television viewing, with nary a peep to be heard out of them.

The DVD

Video:
This full frame 1.33:1 television presentation is fine for what it is: a television presentation. Colors are strong, if not eye-popping, and detail is adequate. Yu-Gi-Oh! is certainly far from the most impressive kid-centric anime ever drawn, but this DVD release perfectly reproduces the original elements.

Sound:
The DD 2.0 mix is excellent, with voices always front and center (and usually LOUD), and various whooshing sound effects and the at times comically "serious" score well mixed. No subtitles are available.

Extras:
None are offered, though after sitting through 47 episodes, I'm not sure any are needed.

Final Thoughts:
If you have kids in the proper demographic group, this third season is probably a DVD Collectors Series title, as your children will no doubt inform you. If you're simply curious to see what all the pre-teen fuss is about, Rent It.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet